The Texas Rangers 2023 season is well underway, and boy, things have been going well for the boys from the Lone Star State.
Through the first 18 games of the season, Texas currently sits 12-6, three games ahead of the Angels for first place in the AL West.
Obviously, standings don’t mean much less than 20 games into a 162-game season, but first place is a spot the Rangers haven’t been in. From 2017 – 2022 the Rangers had just ONE day (1-0 on 7/24/20), which it held or was tied for the division lead.
This season, the Rangers have held sole possession of first place in the AL West for 6 straight days and 11 days this season.
Entering a three-game series with the A’s this weekend at the Globe, Texas is coming off a 5-1 road trip to Houston and Kansas City.
With their 12-3 domination over the Royals yesterday, the Rangers captured their season-best 4th straight win.
Marcus Semien has been the hottest Ranger recently, really helping to provide offense in the absence of Corey Seager. In yesterday’s win vs. the Royals, Semien went 3-5 with 2 RBI and one steal. The Rangers’ superstar second baseman has hit safely in six straight starts and has four multi-hit games, three home runs, and 11 RBI during that stretch.
Rangers catcher Jonah Heim has also had a very solid start to the season, which is good to see after he suffered from fatigue at the end of last season. In 13 games played, Heim is second on the team in WAR at 0.7 and is slashing .311/.385/.556.
The bullpen has been a pleasant surprise early on in the year as well. On the most recent road trip, Rangers relievers gave up zero or one run in five out of the six games. Dane Dunning and Cole Ragans have settled into their new roles in the pen nicely and have provided some huge multi-inning relief when Texas has needed it.
The Rangers will open a three-game set with the Oakland A’s this weekend at the Globe this weekend.
On Friday night, the Rangers will debut their new city connect uniforms which will be worn on both Friday and Saturday as well as every Friday home game for the rest of the regular season. The new uniforms honor the remarkable story of how the organization landed in Arlington, Texas, through the rich baseball history of Dallas and Fort Worth, the significance of April 21 in Texas, and the tireless efforts of the late Mayor of Arlington, Tom Vandergriff.
The three-game set with the A’s will be followed by a road trip to Cincinnati to take on the Reds. If the Rangers can continue to beat the teams they are supposed to, this team could be sitting in a very good spot at the end of April.
Overall, the Texas Rangers are on fire. No, the crazy stats probably won’t last through the season, but a team like this needs a hot start to be able to make a postseason push, and so far, things have been a 10/10 for Texas.
